Web Theologian

…it’s time to deceipher.
The ills of the world make the situation lighter.

-Phife Dawg

On March 22, 2016 one of my favorite musicians passed away, Phife Dawg from A Tribe Call Quest. There were so many great tributes and articles in the last week, that I was able to enjoy them without feeling the need to add to the mix of the many wonderful things that everyone was saying. The connection provided by Phife to the universe for me was evident last week as I was surprise as to how many other people were impacted by his work! Last Tuesday I had a day in the car with a co-worker and all we listed to was Tribe, great way to grieve and tribute.

In 1990, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was released by A Tribe Called Quest. Phife and Q-Tip were 20 years old, they had been working at the rap game and made it. To me this was amazing that people so young could do something so amazing. Not only did I dance my ass off to their music but I was inspired by their work and the ability they had to stick it to the man. From Check the Rhime on Low End Theory:

Industry rule number four thousand and eighty,
Record company people are shady.
So kids watch your back ’cause I think they smoke crack,
I don’t doubt it. Look at how they act.

Over and over again these guys amazed me. When they put out the Love Moment a friend reminds me that I sent him an email in college saying that it was “the best album ever made”…that may have been a slight overstatement after years of reflection. What stands is this group of guys impacted my life deeply, they changed my social relationships, and they provided me funk and hope when I needed it.

Google tries to solve big problems, good customer service is based on understanding your clients problems and working with them to solve them, being a good human means understanding the ills of the world and making the situation lighter. Today lets do that.